Where IT Spending is Headed

Mixed messages about IT spending abound, including a surprising resistance to the mobile enterprise, says CDW’s October IT Monitor. The report finds that 40 percent of IT decision-makers expect their IT budgets to grow over the next six months. Not bad, but still the lowest level since October 2009. Meanwhile, about two-thirds of respondents said they would be replacing or upgrading existing hardware, software or services, versus the almost one-third who indicated they’d be buying new gear and software tools. Also, almost three-quarters of IT decision-makers say staffing levels in their IT organization will remain the same over the next six months; the good news is that less than 10 percent said they would made staff cuts. And with the spending uncertainty come some surprising results on the mobile front: Despite the massive shift to smartphones, tablets, etc., 75 percent of respondents said it was very unlikely their company would implement mobile devices for work-related activities.